SEPTEMBER 18 | VARIOUS CITIES – So you’re down because your team is out of the race, maybe not mathematically but, what are the odds? Well, not good, but it has happened.
Here are some historic comebacks, and collapses, and where the teams stood on this date — September 18th.
1951 New York Giants (today’s San Francisco Giants) – This was a dramatic comeback highlighted by Bobby Thomson’s “shot heard ‘round the world,” but the drama began months before.
The Giants were 13 games behind the Brooklyn Dodgers on August 12th but came all the way back to force a playoff, which the Giants won, and went on to the World Series. On this date the Giants were still 3.5 games out. It was more precarious for the Giants back then though because the schedule was shorter, and they only had 8 games left.
1964 St. Louis Cardinals – The Cardinals were still 6 games out of first place on September 18th. What really helped St. Louis was the mammoth collapse of the 1964 Philadelphia Phillies. This will give teams not mathematically eliminated hope. The Phillies lost 11 of their last 14 games. But the Cardinals won 11 of their last 16. The Cardinals won the pennant.
2007 Colorado Rockies – The Rockies were still 5 and a half games out on September 18th, but won 14 of their last 15 games to tie the Arizona Diamondbacks and force a one game playoff for the NL wildcard spot. The Rockies made it to the World Series that year, losing to the Red Sox.
1995 Seattle Mariners – They trailed the Anaheim Angels by 13 games on August 3rd but went on to win the division. On this date the Mariners were still 2 games out.
1978 New York Yankees – The Yankees trailed the Boston Red Sox by 14 games on July 20th but went on to win the division and the World Series. On September 18 they were 2.5 games ahead of the Red Sox.
1969 New York Mets – They were 10 games behind the Chicago Cubs on August 14th but the Cubs took a nosedive while the Mets closed out the season 38-11 on the way to a World Series championship. It wasn’t a nail-biter at the end. On this date in 1969 the Mets had a 5 game lead with 13 left.
1914 Boston Braves (today’s Atlanta Braves) – Few people are still around who remember the Braves comeback of 1914. They were 15 games out on July 6th. They went on to win the pennant by 10.5 games. On this date the Braves were up by 3 games.
Contributing sources:
BNet
BaseballRace.com